Limit Pricing and Oligopolies Free Essays

Limit pricing is the type of pricing wherein firms discourage entrants to the market by choosing a low price that is below short-run profit maximizing price but above the competitive level. Firms who engage in limit pricing are forfeiting current profits to earn future profits. The output is being maintained despite the presence of entrants. We will write a custom essay sample on Limit Pricing and Oligopolies or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, there are still issues whether the application of limit pricing models is profitable for firms (2002). A firm engages in limit pricing by choosing its price and output while an entrant cannot sufficiently cover the average total cost of the remaining market demand. An established firm that is threatened by an entry in a single-period could use limit price as the highest price. This will block the entry. As first explained by Modigliani in 1958, it was assumed that entrants would expect that incumbent firm will continue production at an entry-limiting output with an entry present. It is the same as the Cournot Competition wherein firms believe that its competitors will continue production at the current levels (McAuliffe, 1997). On the other hand, â€Å"classic limit pricing† is another pricing policy where limit pricing allows established firms to earn economic profits while they are preventing the occurrence of entry. It happens if there are economies of sale in production even if the entrants and the incumbent firms have the same costs (McAuliffe, 1997). Another model is explained by Gaskin in 1971, called the dynamic limit pricing. It happens if there are threats from potential competition to a firm for current and future periods. The firms would now depend the rate of entry from the difference between the current price and their marginal costs. If a firm would want to earn high profits at current period, it will set a high price. However, the number of entry will also increase while the price and profit are likely to decrease in the future. On the other hand, if an established firm decided for a lower price, both the entry and the profits will decrease. Moreover, if the firms do not have any cost over the entrants, it will lose its position then the market will be competitive. The competitive outcome of the market however is not astonishing at all since only the price is used by the firm (McAuliffe, 1997). Both in the classic and dynamic limit pricing, the market power of the established firms are restricted due to the potential competition. In the end, they have no choice but to set the price under monopoly level. However, the expectation from an entrant that a firm would always maintain its output is not always true. After the entry period, both firms would earn high profits through high prices and restricted output. An established firm therefore with maintained output after the existence of an entry is not always a threat for an entrant. Otherwise, the established firm should bind for the current period   in order to obtain high profits with high output for the next periods (McAuliffe, 1997). Successful limit pricing could affect the market structure however few firms do set prices equal to or below the monopoly level to discourage entry. Major American companies use different strategies such as advertising and product proliferation  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   to discourage entry (McAuliffe, 1997). Competition is important in the American economy system but what if there is only a small number of competing companies? This condition falls under the oligopoly market. Unlike the monopoly where there is only one seller and many buyers, in oligopoly there is more than one seller (Schenk). In oligopoly, there may be homogenous or heterogeneous products; however entry is deterred by legal restrictions such as banking, minimum efficient scale such as overnight mail service , or strategic behavior (2008). Oligopoly has different models such as the Cournot-Nash Equilibrium of Duopoly and the Collusive Oligopoly. Cournot focused only on duopoly where there are only two firms competing assuming that both sell the same products produced at zero marginal cost. Both firm engage in output that is profit-maximizing expecting that the output of the other firms is maintained or held constant (Lipsey and Crystal, 2007). Under Cournot-Nash equilibrium, duopolists are competing for the quantities where each produces less than a monopoly. However, the sum of the production of both duopolists is more than the monopoly but their economic profits are less than the monopoly. The price is always less than monopoly level but not more than the competitive price (2008). Under Cournot equilibrium, firms would earn less than a monopoly because the duopolists’ outputs are more then the monopoly output. They would earn however more than the perfectly competitive firms since they could decrease the price upon increasing output (Lipsey and Crystal, 2007). Each competing firm is expected to adjust their outputs. However, if they cannot make any more adjustments then equilibrium is reached (Hobbs, 2001). Unlike Cournot-Nash equilibrium with doupolists as competing firms, in collusive oligopoly the firms cooperate in order to have a monopoly power. They may agree in setting price and dividing the output therefore gaining the quantity a monopoly produces and earning the economic profits a monopoly can. The firms are now earning more than doupoly profits (2008). There are many factors for collusion such as the number of sellers, personalities, equality of shares, costs of each firm, and others. There is a possibly that a collusion might disintegrate especially if the firm begin competing and cheating with the other firms (Schenk). Monopolies in the U.S. are most likely to be regulated by the government unlike the oligopolies. Price-fixing by the collusive oligopolies however is not allowed unless for agricultural cooperatives and professional sports league (2006). Collusion oligopolies, just like the doupoly, could turn into competition as well. Firms begin violating the production limits and producing more than they have to. Besides, the price tends to be lower. In the end, the collusion becomes unsuccessful. Bibliography OECD 2002, Limit Pricing, viewed 6 May 2007, http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=3246. NC State University 2006, Collusive Oligopolies, viewed 6 May 2008, http://www.ncsu.edu/project/calscommblogs/economic/archives/2006/11/collusive_oligo.html. 2008 Oligopoly, viewed 6 May 2008, http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:MKoUqwpjeZEJ:instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/Courses/econ301jpw/helps/oligopoly.ppt+collusive+oligopoly+versus+cournot+competitionhl=tlct=clnkcd=2gl=ph. Hobb, B.K. 2001, Cournot Equilibrium, viewed 6 may 2008, http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/bhobbs/bds7/index.htm. Lipsey, R. G. Crystal, A. 2007, Doupoly. Oxford University Press, viewed 6 May 2008, http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199286416/01student/interactive/lipsey_extra_ch09/page_02.htm. McAuliffe, R. E. 1997, Encyclopedic Dcitionary of Managerial Economics, Blackwell Punlishing, viewed 6 May 2008, http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=OWmaOlvT9XEC. Schenk, R. The Theory of Few Sellers, viewed 6 May 2008, http://ingrimayne.com/econ/Monopoly/Oligopoly.html. How to cite Limit Pricing and Oligopolies, Essay examples

Input And Output Devices free essay sample

In simple terms, input devices bring information INTO the computer and output devices bring information OUT of a computer system. These input/output devices are also known as peripherals since they surround the CPU and memory of a computer system. Some commonly used Input/Output devices are listed in table below. Input Devices Keyboard Mouse Joystick Scanner Light Pen Touch Screen Output Devices Monitor LCD Printer Plotter II. Input Devices (a) Keyboard It is a text base input device that allows the user to input alphabets, numbers and other characters. It consists of a set of keys mounted on a board. Alphanumeric Keypad/ Special-function Keys Function Keys Cursor Movement Keys Numeric Keypad Figure 1: The Keyboard Alphanumeric Keypad It consists of keys for English alphabets, 0 to 9 numbers, and special characters like + ? / * ( ) etc. Function Keys There are twelve function keys labeled F1, F2, F3†¦ F12. The functions assigned to these keys differ from one software package to another. We will write a custom essay sample on Input And Output Devices or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page These keys are also user programmable keys. Special-function Keys These keys have special functions assigned to them and can be used only for those specific purposes. Functions of some of the important keys are defined below. Enter It is similar to the ‘return’ key of the typewriter and is used to execute a command or program. Spacebar It is used to enter a space at the current cursor location. Backspace This key is used to move the cursor one position to the left and also delete the character in that position. Delete It is used to delete the character at the cursor position. Insert Insert key is used to toggle between insert and overwrite mode during data entry. Shift This key is used to type capital letters when pressed along with an alphabet key. Also used to type the special characters located on the upper-side of a key that has two characters defined on the same key. Caps Lock Cap Lock is used to toggle between the capital lock features. When ‘on’, it locks the alphanumeric keypad for capital letters input only. Tab Tab is used to move the cursor to the next tab position defined in the document. Also, it is used to insert indentation into a document. Ctrl 2 Control key is used in conjunction with other keys to provide additional functionality on the keyboard. Alt Also like the control key, Alt key is always used in combination with other keys to perform specific tasks. Esc This key is usually used to negate a command. Also used to cancel or abort executing programs. Numeric Keypad Numeric keypad is located on the right side of the keyboard and consists of keys having numbers (0 to 9) and mathematical operators (+ ? * /) defined on them. This keypad is provided to support quick entry for numeric data. Cursor Movement Keys These are arrow keys and are used to move the cursor in the direction indicated by the arrow (up, down, left, right). b) Mouse The mouse is a small device used to point to a particular place on the screen and select in order to perform one or more actions. It can be used to select menu commands, size windows, start programs etc. The most conventional kind of mouse has two buttons on top: the left one being used most frequently. Mouse Actions Left Click : Used to select an item. Double Click : Used to start a program or open a file. Right Click : Usually used to display a set of commands. Drag and Drop : It allows you to select and move an item from one location to another. To achieve this place the cursor over an item on the screen, click the left mouse button and while holding the button down move the cursor to where you want to place the item, and then release it. Figure 2: The Mouse (c) Joystick The joystick is a vertical stick which moves the graphic cursor in a direction the stick is moved. It typically has a button on top that is used to select the option pointed by the cursor. Joystick is used as an input device primarily used with video games, training simulators and controlling robots 3 Figure 3: The Joystick d)Scanner Scanner is an input device used for direct data entry from the source document into the computer system. It converts the document image into digital form so that it can be fed into the computer. Capturing information like this reduces the possibility of errors typically experienced during large data entry. Figure 4: The Scanner Hand-held scanners are commonly seen in big stores to scan codes and price information for each of the items. They are also termed the bar code readers. (e) Bar codes A bar code is a set of lines of different thicknesses that represent a number. Bar Code Readers are used to input data from bar codes. Most products in shops have bar codes on them. Bar code readers work by shining a beam of light on the lines that make up the bar code and detecting the amount of light that is reflected back Figure 5: The Bar Code Reader (f) Light Pen 4 It is a pen shaped device used to select objects on a display screen. It is quite like the mouse (in its functionality) but uses a light pen to move the pointer and select any object on the screen by pointing to the object. Users of Computer Aided Design (CAD) applications commonly use the light pens to directly draw on screen. Touch Screen It allows the user to operate/make selections by simply touching the display screen. Common examples of touch screen include information kiosks, and bank ATMs. (h)Digital camera A digital camera can store many more pictures than an ordinary camera. Pictures taken using a digital camera are stored inside its memory and can be transferred to a computer by connecting the camera to it. A digital camera takes pictures by converting the light passing through the lens at the front into a digital image. Figure 6: The Digital camera (i) The Speech Input Device The â€Å"Microphones Speech Recognition† is a speech Input device. To operate it we require using a microphone to talk to the computer. Also we need to add a sound card to the computer. The Sound card digitizes audio input into 0/1s . A speech recognition program can process the input and convert it into machine-recognized commands or input. 5 Figure 7: The Microphone III. Output Devices (a) Monitor Monitor is an output device that resembles the television screen and uses a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) to display information. The monitor is associated with a keyboard for manual input of characters and displays the information as it is keyed in. It also displays the program or application output. Like the television, monitors are also available in different sizes. (b) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) LCD was introduced in the 1970s and is now applied to display terminals also. Its advantages like low energy consumption, smaller and lighter have paved its way for usage in portable computers (laptops). Figure 8: The LCD (c) Printer Printers are used to produce paper (commonly known as hardcopy) output. Based on the technology used, they can be classified as Impact or Non-impact printers. Impact printers use the typewriting printing mechanism wherein a hammer strikes the paper through a ribbon in order to produce output. Dot-matrix and Character printers fall under this category. Non-impact printers do not touch the paper while printing. They use chemical, heat or electrical signals to etch the symbols on paper. Inkjet, Deskjet, Laser, Thermal printers fall under this category of printers. When we talk about printers we refer to two basic qualities associated with printers: resolution, and speed. Print resolution is measured in terms of number of dots per inch (dpi). Print speed is measured in terms of number of characters printed in a unit of time and is represented as characters-per-second (cps), lines-per-minute (lpm), or pages-per-minute (ppm). 6 Figure 9: The Printer (d) Plotter Plotters are used to print graphical output on paper. It interprets computer commands and makes line drawings on paper using multicolored automated pens. It is capable of producing graphs, drawings, charts, maps etc. Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) applications like CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) are typical usage areas for plotters. The Audio output is the ability of the computer to output sound. Two components are needed: Sound card – Plays contents of digitized recordings, Speakers – Attached to sound card. Summary: The Chapter has given an introduction to the Input/Output devices. It gives a detailed listing of the various types of input devices and the output devise. The concepts are also very clearly understood by seeing at the figures in the chapter.

Birches Essays - Birches, Robert Frost, Frost,

Birches Birches Pauletta Brooks Introduction to Literature Chris Cox 11-22-99 I believe so much of poetry enlists the senses, beginning with the sense of sound. Whether it's the rhythmic flow of the poem or the mere need to recite the words for a clearer understanding. The sense of sight can't help but participate while one reads a poem. It's like asking an artist to paint how he feels. Imagery is a key part of poetry creating a visual understanding. In the end poetry give a voice to the unsayable in our lives and indeed to life itself. After reading ?Birches? by Robert Frost, my senses were reeling. The poem reads beautifully and is soothing to the ear. The imagery also paints a scene I have witnessed many winter days, growing up in the mountains. Robert Frost, while knowing the realistic cause behind the bent birch trees, prefers to add an imaginative interpretation behind the bending of the birches. He also uses the entire poem to say something profound about life. I feel it is indeed a message that, yes life may get hard, and we may lose our way, but there is still innocence and beauty in our world. We just need to remember. In the first section of the poem, Frost explains the appearance of the birches scientifically. He implies that natural phenomenon makes the branches of the birches bend and sway. Frost suggests that repeated ice storms are the real culprit to the bending branches. He however, takes the ordinary and mundane and makes it extraordinary, even comparing the breaking away of the ice from the trees to the ?dome of heaven? shattering. Frost also lends sound to his description of the branches as ?they click upon themselves As the breeze rises.? Frost explains the branches are bent by the ice, but do not break. Frost again adds beautiful imagery comparing the bent branches ?trailing their leaves on the ground? to ?girls on hands and knees throwing their hair before them to dry in the sun.? Frost, like an artist, paints a picture so beautiful of the birch trees that I can't imagine anyone reading this poem would not have a desire to see a birch in the icy winter for themselves. Frost then suggests that he had rather imagine a little boy causing the bending of the branches by swinging and playing on them. He begins to tell a story within the poem. It is a story of a little boy living in a rural territory, possibly a farm, going out to do his chores, like fetching the cows, but gets side tracked by both the beauty of the woods and his wanting to play. Because the little boy is in a secluded environment he is forced to entertain himself. He has become accustomed to playing on his father's trees, one by one he would conquer them all. He has been a frequent swinger of the birches and has taken the stiffness out of them and caused the branches to bend. Frost goes on to say ?He learned all there was to learn about not launching out too soon And so not carrying the tree away.? The little boy knows exactly how far to bend the branches without breaking them. Frost uses the image of filling a cup to the brim ?and even above the brim? to illustrate to the reader just h ow close the boy is to breaking the branches. We all have filled our cups to the top and then had the challenge of carrying the cup without spilling the contents. Frost again has used a simple comparison to make his point. I, like Frost, prefer the explanation of the bent birches being caused by a little boy swinging on them. Little boys and trees seem to go hand in hand. I find it interesting that in the beginning Frost sees the birches in the winter, covered with ice. Then in the next section, when he envisions a young boy playing on them, the image of summer comes to mind. I see this as saying, the times that we bend, are not defined by the seasons. Good times and those bending (hard times) transcend throughout the times of our lives. He goes on

LAnse aux Meadows - Evidence for Vikings in Canada

L'Anse aux Meadows - Evidence for Vikings in Canada LAnse aux Meadows is the name of an archaeological site that represents a failed Viking colony of Norse adventurers from Iceland, in Newfoundland, Canada and occupied for somewhere between three and ten years. It is the first identified European colony in the new world, predating Christopher Columbus by nearly 500 years. Key Takeaways: L'Anse aux Meadows   LAnse aux Meadows is an archaeological site in Newfoundland, Canada, where the first evidence was discovered of Vikings (Norse) in North America.The colony only lasted three to 10 years before it failed.  There are at least a half-dozen other brief occupations in the Baffin Island region that appear to also be Norse sites of the same age, 1000 CE.  The ancestors of the First People of Canada had been living in the region since at least 6,000 years ago and were using Newfoundland island for summer homes at the time the Vikings landed.   Climate and Pre-Norse Occupations The site is located in Newfoundland on the edge of the Strait of Belle Isle, across which lies the southern Labrador coast and the lower North Shore of Quebec. The climate is largely arctic, a forest-tundra, and it is regularly locked in by ice over the long winters. Summers are foggy, short, and cool. The region was first occupied about 6,000 years ago, by Maritime Archaic people who practiced a broad subsistence strategy, hunting both land and sea animals. and plants. Between 3,500 and 2,000 years ago, people primarily dependent on hunting marine mammals lived in the Belle Isle straits region, and about 2,000 years ago, the region was shared by both terrestrial hunting Recent Indian and Paleoeskimo populations. When the Norse arrived, the Paleoeskimos had left: but the Recent Indian people were still using the land. These Straits residents probably visited the region for brief periods of time during the summers, hunting birds (cormorant, guillemot, eider and black ducks), and living in tents heated with stone hearths. The Historic Tale of lAnse aux Meadows Around the turn of the 19th century, Canadian historian W.A. Munn pored over medieval Icelandic manuscripts, reports by the 10th century CE Vikings. Two of them, the Greenlander Saga and Eriks Saga reported on the explorations of Thorvald Arvaldson, Erik the Red (more properly Eirik), and Leif Erikson, three generations of a rather cranky family of Norse mariners. According to the manuscripts, Thorvald fled a murder charge in Norway and eventually settled in Iceland; his son Erik fled Iceland under a similar charge and settled Greenland; and Eiriks son Leif (the Lucky) took the family westward still, and circa AD 998 he colonized a land he called Vinland, Old Norse for land of grapes. Leifs colony remained at Vinland for between three and ten years, before they were chased away by constant attacks from the residents, ancestors of the First People of Canada called Skraelings by the Norse; and Recent Indians by archaeologists. Munn believed that the most likely site for the colony was on the island of Newfoundland, arguing that Vinland did not refer to grapes, but rather to grass or grazing land, since grapes dont grow in Newfoundland. Rediscovering the Site In the early 1960s, archaeologists Helge Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine Ingstad undertook a close survey of the coastlines of Newfoundland and Labrador. Helge Ingstad, a Norse investigator, had spent the majority of his career studying Northern and Arctic civilizations  and was following up on research into the Viking explorations of the 10th and 11th centuries. In 1961, the survey paid off, and the Ingstads discovered an indisputably Viking settlement near Epave Bay and named the site LAnse aux Meadows, or Jellyfish Cove, a reference to the stinging jellyfish found in the bay. Eleventh-century Norse artifacts recovered from lAnse aux Meadows numbered in the hundreds  and included a soapstone spindle whorl and a bronze-ringed pin process, as well as other iron, bronze, stone, and bone items. Radiocarbon dates placed the occupation at the site between ~990-1030 AD. Living at LAnse aux Meadows LAnse aux Meadows was not a typical Viking village. The site consisted of three building complexes and a bloomery, but no barns or stables that would be associated with farming. Two of the three complexes consisted solely of a large hall or longhouse and a small hut; the third added a small house. It appears that elites resided in one end of the large hall, ordinary sailors slept in sleeping areas within the halls and servants, or, more likely, slaves resided in the huts. The buildings were constructed in the Icelandic style, with heavy sod roofs supported by interior posts. The bloomery was a simple iron smelting furnace within a small subterranean hut  and a pit charcoal kiln. In the large buildings were sleeping areas, a carpentry workshop, a sitting room, a kitchen, and storage. LAnse aux Meadows housed between 80 to 100 individuals, probably up to three ship crews; all of the buildings were occupied at the same time. Based on the reconstructions accomplished by Parks Canada at the site, a total of 86 trees were felled for posts, roofs, and furnishings; and 1,500 cubic feet of sod was required for the roofs. LAnse aux Meadows Today Since the discovery of lAnse aux Meadows, archaeological research has found additional evidence of Norse settlement in the area, a handful of sites on Baffin Island and in Labrador. Artifacts pointing to Norse occupations includes yarn, bar-shaped whetstones, wooden tally sticks, and a broken stone crucible which contained traces of copper and tin for bronze working. Only one building has been found, a rectangular foundation of boulders and turf, and a stone-lined drainage basin. LAnse aux Meadows is now owned by Parks Canada, who carried on excavations at the site during the mid-1970s. The site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978; and  Parks Canada has reconstructed some of the sod buildings and maintains the site as a living history museum, complete with costumed interpreters. Sources and Further Reading A great source of information about LAnse aux Meadows is the  official Parks Canada site, in French and English.Foster, Aidan. Hierophanies in the Vinland Sagas: Images of a New World. Culture and Cosmos 16.1 and 2 (2012): 131–38. Print.Ingstad, Anne Stine. The Viking Discovery of America: The Excavation of a Norse Settlement in LAnse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland, 1961–1968. Oslo: Norwegian University Press, 1977.Kristensen, Todd J., and Jenneth E. Curtis. Late Holocene Hunter-Gatherers at L’anse Aux Meadows and the Dynamics of Bird and Mammal Hunting in Newfoundland. Arctic Anthropology 49.1 (2012): 68–87. Print.Renouf, M.A.P., Michael A. Teal, and Trevor Bell. In the Woods: The Cow Head Complex Occupation of the Gould Site, Port Au Choix. The Cultural Landscapes of Port Au Choix: Precontact Hunter-Gatherers of Northwestern Newfoundland. Ed. Renouf, M.A.P. Boston, MA: Springer US, 2011. 251–69. Print.Sutherland, Patricia D., Peter H. Thompson, and P atricia A. Hunt. Evidence of Early Metalworking in Arctic Canada. Geoarchaeology 30.1 (2015): 74–78. Print. Wallace, Birgitta. Lanse Aux Meadows, Leif Erikssons Home in Vinland. Journal of the North Atlantic 2.sp2 (2009): 114–25. Print.

Philosophical Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Philosophical Ethics - Essay Example Illegal immigration is a divisive topic and it can be termed as a substantive disagreement. This is because it can be studies using facts and arguments can be made based on the research findings. In the case of illegal immigration, the numbers are clear on the negative impacts that illegal immigration has on the population. On the other hand, the research is clear on the negative of illegal immigration on the immigrants (Ferrell and John 29). In other words, the illegal immigrants suffer when the US government and citizens ignore them. The issue on whether illegal immigration is right or wrong is a subjective truth owing to the fact that there is no universal truth on the issue. This is owing to the fact there is no principle that terms the issue as being right or wrong. There are various reasons why one side supports illegal immigration while the other side rejects it. First, there were over 11 million immigrants in America and this issue has continued to divide the opinions of the US citizens to date (Ferrell and John 31). Supporters of this issue claim that immigration results to increased diversity in the American population which can have numerous benefits. Americans can learn new things from the immigrants. Secondly, the high number of immigrants results to an increase in the labor force. This means that the industrial sector can easily access workers and which results to improved performance in the economy. In an addition to an increase in workers, immigrants provide cheaper labor since they are always to work for less. Immigrants take up the jobs that the US citizens look down upon. Some of these jobs include gardening, plumbing and babysitting. All these jobs play a pivotal in the economy and lead to efficiency in the country’s opera tions. Supporters of immigration note that immigrants are motivated and share positive values that are in line

Watersheds Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Watersheds - Research Paper Example Mississippi river has watershed called Mississippi watershed which flows in the United States of America. The river emerges from the western part of Minnesota and flows southwards at 4,070 km/hr towards the delta of the Mississippi river. It has a number of tributaries that drains to approximately 31 states within the United States of America between the Appalachian Mountains and the rocky extending to the southern Canada region .The River Mississippi-according to the order of rivers-is positioned as the fourth longest and tenth largest river in the world (Carluer and De Marsily 87). Watersheds have since played a key role (Naiman 78) in various scientific studies on the impacts of anthropogenic and natural phenomenon on the quantity and quality of water. The effects of silviculture and agriculture have always been outlined basing on watersheds. Data to evaluate the effectiveness of various ecological regions on the basis of Watersheds have been used by researches in places such as C oweta .A number of people mind less to the safety and source of their drinking water implying little concern is put on domestic water channeled to their homes on the basis of treatment. In addition, prior awareness should be availed to people on treatment process the water they consume undergoes. Since water is life, clean water is paramount to every individual and issues concerning the degree to which water meant for consumption is cleaned should never be looked at with little respect. This view serves to limit the extent to which non-clean or un-treated water affects the livelihood/health of the parties concerned though many people have taken cleanliness of water/non-cleanliness of water at the expense of their health concerns for granted. This essay in particular will give an analysis of Mississippi watershed within Mississippi River with a goal of enlightening the society on the scientific process of water treatment and water resource forms within their reach. Carluer and De Mar sily (95) refer to a watershed as that specific area of land that drains into river, stream, lake or other types of water bodies. Watersheds can either be large or small. For instance a small stream located in neighborhood may consist of a watershed. The Mississippi watershed of the Mississippi river covers approximately 31 states which represent about two thirds of the North America (Naiman 78). Figure 1: Mississippi watershed in Mississippi river (Schertzer, 124) In this case take an example of a small stream located at the top of the mountains. The watershed of this specified stream will be constituted by few underground springs and precipitation runoffs resulting from the lands that are up above the stream. As a result the stream continually flows down the hill and drains far and wide to bigger water bodies which include larger rivers, lakes and streams before finally discharging into the oceans and seas which significantly posses watersheds that are larger. It is important Howe ver, to point out that all watersheds be it large or small have complex processes arising from the presence of chemical compounds that in a way or the other may impact on the quality of water being drawn and used by the human fraternity for various reasons and usages. Sivapalan (2266) argues that the human population does not only use water for their domestic needs i.e. cleaning, cooking and drinking but also for cleaning and draining their waste systems. To attain proper sanctity of water and good levels of hygiene, treatment plants, dams and pipes have to be put in place to safeguard the water before and after it is directed to the homes of people in the society and also to factor

Criminal identification procedures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal identification procedures - Essay Example Just as many other things have during the course of the last decade, the technological advancement in the pursuit of legal justice has been astonishing. Never before in history have investigators had tools at their disposal to solve a case and as such, giving the victim(s) some much needed closure for healing and getting the sense of justice which is entitled to them. With all of this advancement, each innovation in its own right played an instrumental role in crime solving. In that case, two of the specific advancements in technology to observe are DNA Analysis and the use of Intra-agency databases for DNA. DNA plays such a crucial role in legal matters with the fact that it is a genetic picture of a person. DNA is defined as, "Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information. DNA is often compared to a set of blueprints, since it contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information," ("DNA" p.1). As for how exactly forensic experts can use DNA in their investigations, the online Encyclopedia Wikipedia answers this further down in their discussion on the subject of DNA and the multiple roles in which it can play a part. "Forensic scientists can use DNA in blood, semen, skin, saliva or hair at a crime scene to identify a perpetrator. This process is called genetic fingerprinting, or more accurately, DNA profiling. In DNA profiling, the lengths of variable sections of repetitive DNA, such as short tandem repeats and minisatellites, are compared between people. This method is usually an extremely reliable technique for identifying a criminal.[104] However, identification can be complicated if the scene is contaminated with DNA from several people.[105] DNA profiling was developed in 1984 by British geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys,[106] and first used in forensic science to convict Colin Pitchfork in the 1988 Enderby murders case.[107] People convicted of certain types of crimes may be required to provide a sample of DNA for a database. This has helped investigators solve old cases where only a DNA sample was obtained from the scene. DNA profiling can also be used to identify victims of mass casualty incid ents, [108" ("DNA" p.1). An advantage for the use of DNA Analysis and by extension having Intra-agency databases for DNA is that DNA itself acts as a blueprint for the criminal who chose to commit the crime in the first place and with tools for analysis and a database to maintain the information achieved through the study of the DNA, investigators will be able to maintain a cohesive list of DNA evidence from criminal cases which may otherwise have been far more difficult to have solved had it not been for the technology in the first place. Within recent years, many people have been freed from jail after spending numerous years behind bars for crimes that, had the technology been there at the time of trial; they would not have been convicted in the first plac